This past weekend I hung out at a brand-spanking new con, the Atlanta SciFi and Fantasy Expo. Made a bunch of new friends– including the proud owner of an actual T.A.R.D.I.S. Randy and I had a marvelous time talking about ghosts, yetis, and vaccines/viruses. I sent him a link to my FreeOK talks including this one:…

A paper was recently brought to my attention via a Creationist. It was the usual ‘HAHAHA! Oh you silly Creationist! This paper says the opposite of what you think it says!’, and I was going to write a blog post along that usual theme. Fazale Rana, ‘Vice President’ of ‘Research and Apologetics’ at Reasons to…

Ive mentioned this technology on ERV before: Saving the American Chestnut tree from extinction with GMOs Well the scientists involved think they have finally done it. They have finally made American Chestnut trees resistant to the blight that is literally driving the species to extinction: Breakthrough at SUNY-ESF: Genetic engineering may save the nearly extinct…

New, weird, out-of-left-field, ideas– we need them to stop HIV. This one makes sense, in retrospect, but I wouldnt have thought to try what these folks did: Targeting α4β7 integrin reduces mucosal transmission of simian immunodeficiency virus and protects gut-associated lymphoid tissue from infection Background info: HIV loves to rip through CD4+ T-cells in gut-associated…

Want a unique gift for your sciency-nerdy-geeky-gamer friends this holiday season? Ethan shared a list of his favorite ugly gamer sweaters, and I want to share a list of some things I like: Geeky/Sciency Pendants: OrfebreEvolution, including the ‘Lady Knights’ designs by Ryan Grant Long Geeky art: Ryan Grant Long has a shop up at Society6 Chain-mail,…

For some reason, pop news became enamored with this paper last month (unfortunately while I was away at a conference): HIV infection en route to endogenization: two cases Inexplicable media frenzy– Scientists find mechanism for spontaneous HIV cure French scientists find genetic mechanism by which two men were spontaneously cured of HIV. HIV discovery offers…

I write about lots of things on ERV, but I didnt anticipate ever getting to the point where I can write new blog posts on new publications by cutting and pasting from old blog posts on old papers… Lots of news outlets have been talking about this new paper: Impact of HLA-driven HIV adaptation on virulence in…

Attention those of you in the Atlanta area! The students in Kennesaw State University Atheists United have invited Richard Dawkins to speak on campus, and they are opening up their event to the public! Tickets are available for purchase HERE! Im gonna get him to sign our Nightwish poster!!!

The title of this article by Answers In Genesis is a good question: Where Did Ebola Come From? *shrug* Look, I love making fun of Creationists, but this is a great question! Ebola is not ‘supposed’ to be a human pathogen. Like many emerging infectious diseases, the natural reservoir for ebola is bats. Specifically, fruit bats.…